“Obviously, our largest concern is certainly widespread power outages because for some of our residents no power means no water,” Spera said, pointing out that half of the residents rely on well water that is tied to their power.

At Saybrook Hardware on Main Street, assistant manager Emma Loso said this Monday has been a bit busier than normal.

“I’ve noticed a lot of batteries, people like to stock up on that,” she said, “some like sandbags if people on the shoreline expect the flooding.”

“We’re only halfway through this hurricane season and we need to watch this season very carefully,” said Izzo, who has been tracking Jose for several days. “By Wednesday, Thursday of last week, this became top of our priority.”

The top concerns for his town are strong winds toppling trees and taking down power lines, Izzo told NBC Connecticut.

“This is probably going to be what we can expect as a nor’easter without the snow, but our concern is the leaves on the trees,” he said.